Hartlands road woes frustrate taxi operators

Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

It's been 14 years since Cecil Lambert, taxi operator, has been plying the Spanish Town to Hartlands route. However, the continuous deterioration of the roads in Hartlands, near Innswood in St Catherine, has been taking a toll on his pocket.

"The road is terrible, terrible, terrible, the potholes. Actually, every month we have to work pan the front end. If me buy a thousand dollar gas, is three trip yuh get, and sometimes when you go into Hartlands, yuh don't get enough passenger to go out back to Spanish Town, and at the same time yuh car a mash up," he lamented.

Susan Freeman, a resident of the sparsely populated community, told The Gleaner that for years their cry for assistance to rehabilitate the road has gone unnoticed.

"The road bad. A pure dust, and as rain fall and we house flood out, we no see nobody. If a nuh two little people from NIS, we no see nobody, no councillor, no MP, nobody, dem just handle we like dog dung ya so," Freeman said.

One resident who wished to remain unnamed said he has been living in the community since 2003, and the living condition is substandard.

"We don't have any form of support, we don't have proper road structure, we don't have proper transportation, we don't have running water. The community just stagnant," he decried.

But Dr Andrew Wheatley, chairman of the St Catherine Parish Council, told The Gleaner that major roadwork would begin within the next two weeks.

"Hartlands road has been an area of concern. The people of Hartlands, and even White Water Meadows, and persons using the road to Innswood High School, have been complaining for some time now.

"I know that the minister of transport and works had a meeting with them and did some remedial work. However, we are about to start proper infrastructural work on that road," Wheatley said.

Likewise, he indicated that rehabilitation work is set to begin on the Duncans Pen road in Spanish Town before Christmas.

"The people living in these areas have been very anxious, and it's not because we are not cognisant of their need, but because of limited resources. Hopefully, we should see those communities enjoying a better Christmas. As it relates to the infrastructural needs, these roads are being upgraded or rehabilitated," he stated.

Though he was unable to quote the costs of the work to be carried out, Wheatley disclosed that a number of roads slated to be repaired have been listed on various rehabilitation programmes for some time now.

"These roads have been on different programmes, and right now we are seeing some light, so it is not something that is overnight or because of an election, it is because these people have been complaining for some time now about the road condition. We at the council have been saying that we are awaiting funds, or we have put them on a particular programme, and some of these programmes are just coming through," he pointed out.